The American University in Cairo School of Global Affairs and Public Policy Learning to Be Lebanese: Socializations of Citizenship and Subjecthood in Beiruti Primary Schools A thesis submitted to the Middle East Studies Center In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (M.A.) in Middle East Studies by Jade M. Lansing under the supervision of Dr. Munira Khayyat May 2014 © Copyright by Jade Lansing 2014 All rights reserved The American University in Cairo School of Global Affairs and Public Policy “Learning to Be Lebanese: Socializations of Citizenship and Subjecthood in Beiruti Primary Schools” A thesis submitted to the Middle East Studies Center May 2014 In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (M.A.) in Middle East Studies has been approved by: Dr. Munira Khayyat __________________________________________ Thesis Adviser Affiliation __________________________________________ Dr. Malak Zaalouk __________________________________________ Second Reader Affiliation __________________________________________ Dr. Hani Sayed __________________________________________ Third Reader Affiliation __________________________________________ Dr. Sherene Seikaly __________________________________________ Department Chair Dr. Laila El Baradei __________________________________________ Dean of GAPP For my two mothers—on either side of the Atlantic—whose humility and boundless love allowed me to grow and thrive. “In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.” –Elizabeth Gilbert Acknowledgements: It goes without saying that this project could not have happened without the generous support and wisdom of many, many people. I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Dr. Sherene Seikaly and Ms. Radwa Wassim, who consistently go beyond the call of duty to ensure that AUC’s Middle East Studies students thrive both personally and professionally. I am thankful for the guidance of my thesis committee — Dr. Munira Khayyat, Dr. Malak Zaalouk, and Dr. Hani Sayed — for taking the time to be a part of this project. I should also thank the American University in Cairo for the grant that helped fund my field research, as well as the American University of Beirut and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, who hosted me while I conducted research in Lebanon. I am grateful for the many open arms and ahlan wa sahlan’s I encountered during the duration of this research. I am eternally indebted to Maysa Mourad and Dr. Bassel Akar for their extensive guidance and support throughout the project, and particularly in gaining access to schools. I would also like to thank Dr. Nemer Frayha, Dr. Tamer Amin, Dr. Maha Shuayb, Dr. Anies Al- Hroub, and Dr. Mahmoud Natout, who graciously offered insight and resources. At its best, scholarship is a dialogue, and I benefited enormously from these scholars’ contributions and experience. I owe a great deal of appreciation to my peer-editing group — Owain, Cally, Claire, Kristen — without whose careful line-edits, feedback, and solidarity this study would likely be much less polished, and its writer much less sane. Finally, I would like to thank the students, teachers, and school administrators whose stories gave this study life. I am forever astounded by the brilliance and color of young minds. I hope this study will do justice to their voices. Any failings in this regard are my own. ii Abstract Learning to Be Lebanese: Socializations of Citizenship and Subjecthood in Beiruti Primary Schools Jade M. Lansing The American University in Cairo under the supervision of Dr. Munira Khayyat This research project will explore the ways the Lebanese state and individual classroom actors construct and contest citizenship through the curriculum and structure of civics classrooms in contemporary Lebanese primary schools. Using civics classrooms as a lens to understand broader trends in educational environments, this study will analyze the role of education in the narration, diffusion, and aggravation of social and political discord. It argues that schools and classrooms are not passive or neutral mirrors of external dynamics, but rather play an active role in the narration and construction of these realities. This research shows that education is a space dominated by conflicting interests, serving as both a source of control and individual empowerment. It is the great irony of citizenship that, the state apparatus, and the sectarian demarcations it reiterates in Lebanon, are reinforced by the very initiatives that seek to challenge these hegemonic and hierarchical structures by nature of their reliance on the state and sectarian affiliations as sources of change. This project aims to address this contradiction within the practice of civics education in Lebanese primary schools. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Beiruti primary school classrooms as well as review of national legislation and educational administrative documents, this interdisciplinary study explores the relationship between national administrative reforms and everyday classroom practices. This analysis is situated within a broader interrogation of what civics classrooms teach young students about their rights and duties as Lebanese citizens, and how the content and implementation of civics education differs between schools. In addition to interviews and reviewing textbooks and educational administrative documents, I attended civics classes at three Beiruti elementary schools in order to observe grading methodology, group project dynamics, teaching styles, and students’ classroom engagement to understand how students become citizens within the school environment. iii Note on Translation and Transliteration Because language choices are meaningful, I have attempted to provide the reader with a genuine reflection of the languages used by my interlocutors in distinct interactions, while making the analysis accessible to readers who are not multilingual. In this endeavor, when quoting legislation, interviews, and classrooms that were originally in Lebanese or Modern Standard Arabic, I provide the original Arabic followed by an English translation. Quotes from interactions conducted in English are transcribed in English without translation. All translations throughout this thesis, and any errors in translation, are my own. Arabic transliteration of quotes follows the style of the International Journal of Middle East Studies, though diacritical marks have been removed for simplicity. Transliteration of personal and place names follows the conventions of the place or person named; for example, Ahliah School is transcribed as the school transcribes it in English publicity materials, rather than the more standardized translation of the school’s Arabic name al-Madrassa al-‘Ahaliya. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………. ii Abstract ………………………………………………………………………… iii Note on Translation and Transliteration ……………………………………….. iv Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………. v Introduction …………………………………………………………………… 1 Research Methodology ………………………………………………… 6 The Lebanese Educational Landscape …………………………………. 16 Education in Conflicted Environments ………………………………… 19 The Development of Lebanese Civic Education ………………………. 22 Chapter Summary and Emerging Themes ……………………………... 25 Chapter 1: Schools and Subjecthood ………………………………………….. 28 Legal Citizenship and Lived Citizenship ……………………………… 29 Schools and the Construction of Lebanese Citizens …………………... 46 Contested Citizenship(s) and National Narratives …………………….. 50 Chapter 2: Civic Education in Context…………………………………………. 54 Why Civic Education? …………………………………………………. 54 Divergent Curricula and Practices ……………………………………… 56 Civic Education Expectations and Effects ……………………………… 60 Civic Education for Non-Citizens …………………………………..….. 62 Chapter 3: Inside the Classroom .……………………………………………….. 67 School Administration ………………………………………………….. 69 Teaching Citizenship …………………………………………………… 78 The Classroom Environment …………………………………………… 86 Foreign Languages and International Examples ………………………... 92 Classroom Citizenship ………………………………………………….. 95 Chapter 4: Non-State Initiatives and International Actors in Lebanese Civic Education ………………………………………….…………... 102 International Actors and Particularistic Visions of Citizenship ………... 105 Educating Lebanon’s Refugee Populations …………………………….. 110 Recent Citizenship Education Initiatives ……………………………….. 114 Shaping the Lebanese Education Environment ……………………….... 116 Conclusion: Schools and Society ……………………………………..…..…..... 119 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………. 123 v “They asked me what is happening in your far away land? / Strewn as it is with fire and guns. / I told them my country is being born again / The Lebanon of dignity and its resilient people / However you are I love you / Even in your madness I love you / And if we are dispersed your love will unite us.” –Fayrouz, Bhibbak ya Lubnan Introduction In classrooms across Lebanon, civics education programs introduce students to civic principles, government structures, and conflict resolution strategies. Students engage with these lessons by raising their hands to answer questions and participating in classroom activities, and teachers and administrators encourage students to think independently and develop as